The effects of e-voting in the sub-national elections in Ecuador

Including in countries where voting is compulsory, we observe large variations in terms of turnout across regions or electoral districts. This article analyses turnout and the shares of valid votes in local elections in Ecuador and tests whether the observed differences between municipalities may be explained by the implementation of both compulsory voting and e-voting. Taking into account various aspects of the electoral system and of the electoral competition as well as socio-demographic factors, multivariate models demonstrate that turnout increases with compulsory voting and decreases in municipalities that used e-voting. E-voting has a secondary impact on voting behaviour as it also decreases the number of valid votes.